Current weather

Athens man claims he was pistol whipped to avoid traffic fine

published Wednesday, February 13, 2013

An Athens man potentially faces felony charges for making up a story about being robbed to apparently avoid citations for motor vehicle law violations.

Athens-Clarke police said an officer was monitoring traffic at the intersection of West Broad Street and West Hancock Avenue when a car drove through a red light.

When stopped, 33-year-old Nundi Hutt told the officer he had been pistol whipped during an armed robbery and was looking for a hospital, police said.

The officer didn’t notice any injuries to the man’s face where he claimed to have been struck with a gun, but Hutt kept rubbing his eye to make it water and become red and puffy, according to police.

He was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital for examination, but he later admitted he made up the story and told his girlfriend to lie in order to back him up, police said.

The officer issued Hutt with citations for driving on a suspended license and failure to obey a traffic control device, and said warrants would be sought charging Hutt with making false statements, tampering with or bribing a witness, and false report of a crime, police said.

OnlineAthens.com aims to foster constructive, respectful civic conversation. With your help, we will provide a friendly, safe, easy to use place on the Web for everyone in the area to share not only opinions but also information of community interest. Racist, harassing, abusive and libelous comments will not be tolerated.